The Amateur Astronomy Page

[edge213]

I had my binocular rig out last night to look for the new comet that was recently discovered. It is called Comet C/2019 Y4 Atlas, and at this point is not yet visible to the naked eye, but it is expected to brighten significantly between now and early June. If you are familiar with the night sky objects M81 and M82, last night the location of the comet made an equilateral triangle with those two deep sky objects. In other words, in the sky just off the bowl of Ursa Major (the big dipper). In the process of looking last night I also got to see something we had discussed a few weeks ago, that is Elon Musk and his plan to put about 12000 satellites into orbit to broadcast the internet to everyone. As I was looking last night, I had the opportunity to see a "freight train" of satellites, 8 or 9 of them in the same path go over in a period of just a few minutes. Musk is launching 60 at a time and now has approximately 360 already in orbit of the 12000 he has planned. His comments that the satellites will not affect astronomers is ludicrous.
I use my home made parallel arm mount to handle the 20 x 80 mega view binocs. They are quite heavy to handle manually. Note the counter weight on the opposite end of the arm to balance the unit. Did not see it yet, the sky right in town does not offer the contrast yet to see the comet and the sky last night was kind of "milky", that it the seeing conditions were not real good. I will try it again tonight if clear with my small ETX telescope.
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The binocular can be raised or lowered and still stay aimed at the target. This is really handy when you have people of different heights like adults and kids who want a look.
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That's a really cool set up

[OLDE CUTLER]

Thank you for posting that. Very interesting. I like that contraption for the binoculars. That would work great also for a camera I assume?
I will be watching for this comet now.

It can be and is used for a camera with a long lens. I have a Canon Xsi with Sigma 70-300mm zoom lens that I sometimes use on this rig for wildlife photography. Obviously it is not that easy to tote around, but I tend to use it in a place where I can get shots it several directions without moving once set up. With the big binocs it works good also for watching the bald eagle or hawks nest, and general wildlife watching.

[OLDE CUTLER]

I have been busy in recent days to try to improve my astronomical viewing opportunities by building an area on my back deck to set up and use the various telescopes and big binoculars that I have. My back deck is 8ft x 28 ft. I am walling off an area on the far end of 8 x 8 feet by adding studs and plywood to the height of 6 ft. in an effort to cut off the wind, car headlights, and lights from local businesses. Two such walls have been added, and a third enclosed side will soon be done with a bifold door which can be drawn shut when the "observatory" is in use. The fourth side is the house which will include a sliding patio door for access. I was talking to a buddy from the local astronomy club and he mentioned that he still had the pier that I had made for him a few years back and was not using it. So I appropriated it and installed it on my deck. After making an adapter plate to mount my Meade LX90 to the pier and getting everything to plumb and level, it appears to work good. When the final design is achieved, I will be able to sit at the kitchen table this winter when it is who knows how cold, and have the cabling come in from the LX90 to the laptop, which will have software to control the aiming and tracking of the telescope as well as take and process images from the camera connected to the telescope. But that is in the future now, hopefully near future.

Note the two sticks at the bottom laying out the footprint of the bifold door, (so it will clear the pier when folded shut), which will be the next part of the project.

The Meade LX90 on the newly renovated pier.

[Steve Warden]

Pretty cool!
Is that just a scope, or can you take pictures with it, also?

[OLDE CUTLER]

Pretty cool!
Is that just a scope, or can you take pictures with it, also?

I have a Canon Xsi DSLR that connects directly to the scope. As I mentioned my laptop will have a full job when I get all this completed controlling the telescope aiming, as well as taking and processing the images.

[Steve Warden]

Pretty cool!
Is that just a scope, or can you take pictures with it, also?

I have a Canon Xsi DSLR that connects directly to the scope. As I mentioned my laptop will have a full job when I get all this completed controlling the telescope aiming, as well as taking and processing the images.

Yeah, I had a moment. I went back and re-read your post, focusing on the part where you mentioned pictures!

[Doc B]

OC, that's neat! Can't wait to see some pictures!

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

I think you guys are looking at the supernova the wrong way around - you keep talking as if the supernova has not yet happened. The reality is that the supernova might have happened in the 14th century. Everything we are seeing now on that star happened 700 years ago!

[OLDE CUTLER]

For those of you who have not seen it yet, comet Neowise is visible in the NW sky after dark. I saw it very well with 10x50 binoculars tonight. It is actually right underneath the bowl of the Big Dipper (Ursa Major). You should be able to see it with virtually any binocular, as it is quite bright. If you miss it this time you will have to wait for its next trip in to the inner planets and around the sun which will happen in 6800 years. The nucleus is quite bright and it has a long booooshy tail. I saw it quite well in spite of city lights and it is about 20 degrees above the horizon. To measure 20 degrees above the horizon, make fists with both hands and put them out at arms length. Set the bottom of one fist on the horizon and put the other fist on top of the first one. The top of the second fist is about 20 degrees in elevation. Take a look.

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

Arrrggghhhhh! Last night was the closest approach for Neowise and we were completely covered in overcast. No moon, no stars, nothin'!! And, from the looks of it, tonight will be the same. Oh well, it will only be another 6800 years to see it again...

[OLDE CUTLER]

Over the past week, I have had the opportunity to see the comet Neowise with 10x50 binoculars, 20x80 binoculars, the ETX 90 telescope, and my LX90 8 inch telescope. The best views I had of it were with the 20x80 binoculars last Friday night based on the field of view afforded by them. If I put the comet in the lower left hand corner of the field of view, the tail would stretch out all the way across to the upper right side of the field of view. Last night I saw it again in clear skies here and it has dimmed considerably. A week ago the nucleus was quite bright, but last night it was considerably dimmer, and the tail was not as visible. I think in a few more days, it will fade even further and start its trip into obscurity back into its 6800 year orbit.

[OLDE CUTLER]

Over the past few weeks, amateur astronomy has been severely hampered in this area because of the poor viewing conditions caused by the fires in the western states and the smoke in the upper atmosphere. During the day here even when there are no clouds, the sky has a grayish look to it instead of the usual blue. And at night even after it should be pitch dark, it does not seem dark because of all the upper atmospheric issues from the smoke. Daytime solar astronomy is still doable, sunspots (if there were any to see) and the solar disc are still clearly visible thru solar filtered telescopes. I am sure those of you west of me (in eastern South Dakota) are having the same issues. What about those of you east of here?

[Railsplitter]

I'm in the Midwest and although I don't have positive proof, I think that smoke is reaching here too. It's been hazy here for the last 2 days. Could just be the weather but I'm starting to think it's smoke.

[Old Folder]

There is not much "Stargazing" going on within the Western States.
The below picture was taken from within my wifes garden yesterday morning. It's the sunrise. Much of the days sunshine is blocked out from the smoke.
Presently, the closest fire to us is about 14 miles East, just above Arcadia Ca.
Most of the day and night is "Unhealthy Air Quality for Sensitive Groups."

[Doc B]

Dan, sadly, that makes for a very beautiful picture. Praying for rain and containment. We had 3 family members all lose their houses, in the Paradise fire, a couple of years ago.

[cudgee]

There is not much "Stargazing" going on within the Western States.
The below picture was taken from within my wifes garden yesterday morning. It's the sunrise. Much of the days sunshine is blocked out from the smoke.
Presently, the closest fire to us is about 14 miles East, just above Arcadia Ca.
Most of the day and night is "Unhealthy Air Quality for Sensitive Groups."


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Looks eerily beautiful.

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

These pictures were recently posted to Twitter. Awesome shots. All credit to the original producer, Andrew McCarthy. Here's the quick video they were originally based on: https://twitter.com/i/status/1316761552108752896

[Railsplitter]

That is neat!

In the second picture the satellite looks huge in relation to the Moon. Is that because it's still a good distance from the Moon or is it actually that big?

[doglegg]

Great pic's TFL. Thanks for sharing.

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

That is neat!

In the second picture the satellite looks huge in relation to the Moon. Is that because it's still a good distance from the Moon or is it actually that big?

I think it is perspective from the distance between them and the high level of magnification.

[Railsplitter]

That is neat!

In the second picture the satellite looks huge in relation to the Moon. Is that because it's still a good distance from the Moon or is it actually that big?

I think it is perspective from the distance between them and the high level of magnification.

[Sharpnshinyknives]

Very interesting. I missed the passing of the space station a week or so back. It was actually visible for over a minute right over my house, but my wife told me about it the next day so I completely missed it. I know, it’s not her job to keep track of the space station passing.

[OLDE CUTLER]

The type of photo shown, with a satellite visible against the backdrop of the moon always require careful planning and luck to be able to capture. International Space Station viewing is an observation class by itself. I have been watching the ISS since it was first launched and it has gotten bigger and brighter with each module added and especially with the addition of more solar panels. When it goes over at a reasonable high angle to be able to see it well, it is clear that it is not a bright point of light as most satellites are. It can be clearly seen with the naked eye that it is elongated and has appendages jutting from the main structure at right angles (the solar panels). Even more can be seen with a good pair of binoculars. The website I use to get the predictions of the over flights is www.spotthestation.nasa.gov . You input your location and it will show the coming opportunities. If you want, you can have notifications sent to your phone when it flies over your location. Note that it is not visible every night or early morning as the orbit of the station takes it over your head during daylight hours much of the time and sometimes it will be a couple of weeks before it passes overhead at a higher elevation to be a good sighting. In the info section of the upcoming sightings, the angle shown is how high above the horizon it will be seen, with 90 degrees being straight up. This does not take into account any trees and terrain in your area. Some of the low angle passes where it only shows 10-15 degrees above the horizon are what is called "tree skimmers" and may not be visible in your locale. The best sightings are when the angle shown is in the 70-90 degree range. One of the best sightings I have seen was years ago once when the space shuttle had just undocked from the ISS and they together passed right over Sioux Falls at 89 degree elevation. You could clearly tell which was the ISS and which was the shuttle as they were separated by several shuttle lengths. Note, seeing the ISS thru a telescope is possible, but the high speed that it moves across the sky makes this impossible for most telescopes to track as well as getting the direction of travel correct. Also note that when estimating the angles of elevation, that if one extends the arm out fully straight in front of you with the palm to the side and then makes a fist, that will approximate the angle of 10 degrees. By using both fists, one on top of the other, you can get a good idea of how high in the sky to look. Another thing that confuses people about sighting the space station is that what you are seeing is not lights on the station, but the sunlight reflecting off the outer surfaces. So when it travels across the sky and then disappears, that is because it has traveled into the earths shadow where the sun no longer touches it. That is why these windows of opportunity to see it are quite short.

[OLDE CUTLER]

I was able to get this shot of this nice sunspot group an hour ago. There are some real issues here today with wind, so it is not as sharp as I would like, but you can get an idea of the enormous size of this sunspot which has to be many thousands of miles across. Sunspot activity has been at a minimum over the past many months, so it is rare to see a nice big one like this.

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

Awesome shot OC!!

In ~1999 I was doing work related to the GPS satnav system. The company I worked for was full of PhDs in physics, math & engineering. One of the guys specialized in studying solar activity and its effect on the Earth's ionosphere. The GPS signals are affected by the ionosphere and this causes errors in the positioning data. He was building a model of the ionospheric GPS effects. His office was across the hallway from mine. He was a nice guy, but a typical PhD - his entire life was centered on his work, and he would prattle on forever about it. As I recall, at that time we were headed toward a maximum in the solar cycle and he was quite excited. Sometimes his mouth couldn't quite keep-up with his brain and he would mumble his words and just fade out in the middle of a sentence. It mostly went over my head, I just nodded and made soothing noises...

I do remember him telling me that the common notion that the solar cycle lasts 11 years is not correct. The *average* of the cycles over the last couple of centuries of observations has been 11 years, but each cycle has actually varied +/- a year or more.